Our hostess Ruth single-family home was located in the south of Adelaide. We had met Ruth in Western Australia when she was on a bus tour and we had a break in Kalbarri National Park. The second time we met, Ruth invited us to her home in Adelaide and gave us her address.

We gladly accepted this generous offer and moved into Ruth’s guest room three months later. A place to sleep with a comfortable bed, a hot shower and a washing machine were just the beginning of all that Ruth did for us. We were treated to delicious meals, breakfast was ready every morning, Ruth mended my jacket and took plenty of time to show us around Adelaide and the surrounding area. As a passionate driver, she chauffeured us up Mount Lofty at night to marvel at the sea of lights and during the day through the city center, to the beach, through vineyards, to the harbour and to pretty villages. The trips in the car were completely unfamiliar to us and about as strenuous as riding a bike ourselves😉. We ended up falling into bed dead tired every night and were surprised at how quickly a week in Adelaide went by. Okay, we also spent two days organizing, shopping and touring the city on our own.

After so much time off, it felt really good to pedal again and feel the fresh breeze on our faces. Ahhh, how we love the freedom on our two-wheelers😍!
However, it wasn’t too difficult to get back into cycling. The first short day of cycling ended after 60 km with Diana and Graeme on their beautiful “hobby farm”, which they have been developing, maintaining, living on and managing since their retirement. Weeks earlier, we had struck up a conversation with their son Fraser and his daughter Heidi in Coffin Bay… whereupon Fraser invited us to visit his parents. If we hadn’t been drawn further afield, we would have loved to stay with the Pinkneys for much longer! There was no shortage of exciting stories to exchange.

Well rested and refreshed, we set off on our onward journey and needed some time to get into our stride, as the Fleurieur Peninsula offered many small roads and places to linger. It was only after we had crossed the Murray River by ferry in Wellington that the cycling days became longer again. And boring! The coastal road offered no view of the sea, sometimes we rode through meter-high bush, then through ugly forest plantations and always with a persistent headwind. The many aggressively driving timber trucks on the narrow road were also nerve-wracking.

A pleasant change of pace was provided by charming coastal villages such as Beachport, Port Ferry and the small town of Mount Gambier with its blue volcanic lake. In the port of Portland, we experienced the fascinating side of the intensive timber industry: twin trucks filled with wood chips were driven onto a ramp to be secured there for unloading. The ramp with the truck on it was then tilted by more than 60° so that the bulk material slipped out of the trailers. We could have watched the action for hours… and we did😊.

It wasn’t far to the start of the iconic Great Ocean Road. Shortly before and especially after the village of Peterborough, there was a succession of viewpoints. The rugged rock formations in the wild ocean not only impressed us, but also numerous other tourists. Fortunately, the volume of traffic was kept to a minimum. There was no sign of the queuing traffic that had been predicted.
We liked the Otway National Park in the nearby hinterland just as much as the Great Ocean Road, with its meter-high tree ferns, waterfalls, gigantic eucalyptus trees and planted redwood trees.

The next detour took us to the Cape Otway lighthouse. Luckily, we spotted some cute kualas on the way and enjoyed the drive through the beautiful forest in the warm evening light. Because the lighthouse would not have been worth the trip. It was only accessible during opening hours for an entrance fee and was otherwise not visible from anywhere.

From Apollo Bay onwards, the coastal villages filled up with guests for the upcoming Christmas and vacation season. Hotels and rental apartments were fully booked, campsites were packed and cafés were busy. We didn’t particularly like the hustle and bustle. The road ran beautifully along the coast and the vast majority of cars were on the opposite side of the road. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the free campsites in the inland and the morning hours before the hustle and bustle.

Melbourne was now within our grasp. To avoid the city entrance, we had the most brilliant plan of taking the passenger and bike ferry from Pontarlington😉. This idea was indeed a great one. The boat set off from tranquil Pontarlington and headed straight for the Melbourne skyline. On the way to Docklands, we drove along the container port and were able to catch a few glimpses of the large cargo ships. The ferry was a course ship, but would have sold well at several times the price as a tourist cruise. We landed comfortably in the middle of the city, where we were greeted by our first downpour. In the shelter of a bus shelter, David figured out the best way to pick up our spare tires and the new battery charger and leave the city in a north-easterly direction. A more detailed tour of the city is planned for a later date and outside the Christmas season.

This post was written and published on December 26, 2024.